Oseberg Viking Heritage was established to recreate Vestfold’s three Viking ships, which required rediscovering forgotten crafts and methods. This has provided expertise in other types of Viking-age construction as well.
By Einar Chr. Erlingsen
How did people work on building ships and structures in the past? What tools did they use, how were they used, and how was wood treated? Over the past 15 years, our skilled boatbuilders, blacksmiths, woodcarvers, textile workers, and carpenters have uncovered many answers—by studying original artifacts, tool marks, and through trial and error.
Much of this knowledge applies to more than just shipbuilding, and our craftspeople have applied it extensively. As a foundation, we depend on generating income to fund our operations, which makes it invaluable that we can also take on external projects.
Building the Viking Way
Here are some examples:
- Five traditional post-and-beam buildings for our own use
- Palisades and gate tower at the Midgard Viking Center in Borre
- A shell structure (a period-appropriate covering for a modern service building) in the same area
- Furniture and interior pieces for the Gilde Hall at Midgard
All construction techniques are executed as they would have been in the Viking Age, featuring rough dimensions, hand-planed or ax-hewn surfaces, and connections such as wooden pegs, hand-forged nails, baleen, and roots.
Our craftspeople possess a wide and unique expertise that is essential to Vestfold County’s continued focus on Viking heritage as a foundation for economic and tourism development.
We also ensure these skills are passed on by training apprentices in traditional boatbuilding and blacksmithing and by hosting students from the carpentry programs at Re and Færder Upper Secondary Schools.
Other Projects
Our craftspeople are also skilled in modern crafts, as seen in their larger boat repair projects, including a ketch and the Arctic schooner Berntine. Currently, they’re completing a dock spanning over 2 decares (approximately 17 kilometers of planks!) for Tønsberg Municipality. This will serve as the foundation for a fantastic Viking shipbuilding and craftsmanship center at Vikingodden.
